


Beneath the Sultantree

by KitsunesKnight



Series: The Awoken Wanderers - FFXIV Stories [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Action, Gen, Protective Siblings, Siblings, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 14:43:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11602764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitsunesKnight/pseuds/KitsunesKnight
Summary: Being in the right place at the right time, twins Logan and Cherise Holden are tasked with tracking down a wayward Ul'dahn noble named Lady Lilira. Things become complicated however, when a voidsent monster descends upon them.





	Beneath the Sultantree

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place during the FFXIV MSQ Quest "Underneath the Sultantree", part of the introductory Thanalan quests. Shouldn't be much in the way of spoilers for anyone who minds those!

“What kind of noble could this Lilira be to get this many people out looking for her?” Cherise wondered out loud as soon as they were out of earshot of Papashan.

Logan glanced over his shoulder to double check the aging Lalafell couldn't, in fact, hear them, before replying. “No idea. I think he's still hiding something, but I don't think it's anything bad…”

“Yeah, I got the same feeling. What's the Sultantree anyway?”

Logan shrugged. “No idea. Haven't heard of it until now. But I'm guessing it's that one.”

He pointed ahead, to the south, and there was a singular, tall tree jutting out from a rocky area a ways away. Few trees were as noticeable across Thanalan’s deserts, so the guess was good enough for Cherise, and the twins headed off.

“So, still not talking about your jail time with the stranger you ran into?” Logan asked, making conversation as they walked.

“She ran into me, and no, because it's not worth talking about,” she all but spat back. Still sour about it apparently. “What about you and this Miqo’te that keeps dragging you off? What's that about?”

The look Cherise gave him made him blush slightly. “N-Nothing! Not that! She just. I dunno. Likes dragging me around? I don't mind I guess, helps me get used to the area, and she seems to know it better than I do…”

“Uh huh,” Cherise replied flatly. “Just be careful okay? I don't trust her…”

“I have my linkpearl, and you don't trust anyone.”

“Linkpearls are not infallible, and it seems like a safe assumption from what I can tell from this place.”

“Plus you might get overnight jail time if you trust the wrong person?”

“ _No_ , I'm just wary of young, attractive, female Miqo’te in a place like this around my doe-eyed little-”

“-I was born first!-”

“-brother!”

“So what, you think she's a-”

“Shh!” Cherise cut her brother's words off suddenly.

Logan blinked in surprise and a quick glance at his sister made it obvious she was listening intently. He paused to listen himself and heard what she must've heard. A muttering to one's self, not far, and the Sultantree was very close now. The twins shared glances, and then took off for the tree.

“Seriously though I'm taller too, what makes me little?”

“Your maturity level.”

He stuck his tongue out at her, and Cherise just raised an eyebrow in return. Logan put his tongue back in his mouth.

They rounded the pile of rocks surrounding the Sultantree and found a pink-clad Lalafell dressed in what looked more like commoner clothing than something befitting a noble. Logan wondered if that wasn't the point. The Lalafell stood at the sound of their approaching footsteps, and turned to look at them.

“Show yourself!” She shouted suddenly.

Logan jumped, realizing that she wasn't looking at them, but past them. He turned to look behind him and saw a tall, white-haired man he hadn't noticed before. Cherise seemed unsurprised at his appearance, and Logan noticed her hands were by the knuckles on her hips.

“As you command, O Lilira,” the man said easily, sauntering forward, ignoring the twins. “Forgive my selfish desire to assure your safety.”

Lilira glared at him. “I don't recall requesting an escort! Simply pretend we never met and continue on your way!”

Logan leaned over to his sister. “So… they’re okay then?” He whispered.

Cherise shrugged but relaxed. “I guess.”

He shook his head. “We both know I can do no such thing. It isn't safe for you here alone,” he pleaded. “It isn't safe for _anyone_ \- not with this aetheric disturbance… it's as if the dead are watching us…”

Logan suddenly shivered. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it now, or actually feeling what the man was describing. He glanced over and saw Cherise’s eyes darting around as if looking for a threat. So it wasn’t just him, then.

“And I'd prefer not to join them. If it's all the same to you,” the man continued, going from serious to sarcastic in record time.

Finally the man turned to the twins. “And you two must be the ones Papashan mentioned. Congratulations on finding our elusive young charge.”

Finally getting a good look at him, Logan saw that he had two very standout features, aside from his white hair. First was a tattoo on his neck, a symbol of some sort he didn't recognize. The second was a strange device, almost like large goggles, that was attached to a forearm. Logan got the sense that he was the kind of person who always knew more about a situation than he let on, and it bugged him. It was always something Logan was bad at, and something Cherise was good at. At least he trusted Cherise.

“You'll have to forgive Her Impetuousness. What she lacks in discipline she makes up for in stubbornness,” he apologized, before continuing with an offer. “You should return with us. The stationmaster will be eager to thank Lady Lilira’s protector in person.”

Logan was sure he heard Cherise scoff under her breath, and wondered now if they had, indeed, found her, or if this man had been shadowing her all along.

Still, Logan opened his mouth to reply in the positive when a sudden, horrible screech rebounded among the rocks. All four of them looked up, and Logan’s eyes widened when he saw a dark, bat-winged creature flying above them. It had long, spindly arms and legs, but only a pair of claws at the end of each limb. It’s face was beaked, had two ugly jutting horns on its head, and eyes that glowed a sickly gold. It swooped around from behind the rocks, coming to a hover just outside the tiny valley, and shrieked a challenge at the group once more.

In a flash, Cherise had her knuckles out and was immediately in a combat-ready stance. Logan did his best but ended up fumbling with his buckler, but eventually got it off his back and his sword out of its sheathe. The man, however, calmly stood forward, standing between the creature and Lilira.

“Alas, the stationmaster will have to wait,” his voice was as calm as his stature, despite the horrific creature in front of them. “Dear Lilira, for my sake, please stay out of harm’s way.”

She nodded, and quickly retreated to the back of the valley, hunkering down by the Sultantree.

Next, the man stepped forward to be next to Logan and Cherise. “As for you, dear friends - for Lilira’s sake - please stay _in_ harm’s way!”

Both twins rolled their eyes as he dashed forward, meeting another screech from the monster - whatever it was - with a drawn blade. He engaged the monster in battle, deflecting a claw before swiping at it with his sword.

He jumped away from the next swipe and looked at the twins over his shoulder. “Well, come on! Let’s attend to our uninvited guest!’

Logan glanced at Cherise, who nodded to him, then the pair took off after the monster. Cherise went all the way around to make strikes from behind, the monster clawing and beating its wings at her, but she dodged around them. Logan took up a flanking position, warding off swipes directed at him as well. The mysterious man, however, occupied most of the monster’s attention, as he seemed the most experienced of the three. He practically danced around the unfamiliar beast, and Logan quickly realized the man must’ve been an accomplished fighter of some sort.

Certainly unlike himself. He felt his arms going weak from the effort of blocking the batting wings, as well as the fright in fighting something that looked like a living twisted nightmare. What glances he could spare showed Cherise having seemingly no problem pummeling it, but Logan felt his knees shake, feeling like he may fall over at any moment.

“Oh great, it brought friends!”

The call from the stranger had Logan jerking his head around, and he saw two, smaller versions of the monster swoop out from behind a nearby tree. Logan’s distraction cost him, as the monster’s wing buffeted him, sending him flying through the air and rolling through the craggy dirt.

“Stay close if you want me to heal you!”

“Yeah thanks I’ll just…” Logan muttered to himself, devolving into wordless grumbles as he got back to his feet.

Cherise had disengaged from the larger monster, and was working on one of the smaller ones by the time Logan was standing and moving back to the fray. She was having more issues with these, as they were smaller and faster, and not distracted by the white-haired man. Their claws raked at her shoulders, back and hair. Logan suddenly put on speed, charging with a shout as he batted one of the monsters away with his shield. With the opening, Cherise quickly one-two punched the other, giving both the twins some breathing room. They squared up next to each other, each one taking a smaller beast. Logan moved in first, slicing at one, but hitting it only with the side of his blade. Cherise swung a punch at the other, missing, but following up with a second that impacted it right on the side of the head. It spun away, still hovering but dazed. As she charged after it, Logan swiped again at his, this time the blade slicing across it. It cried out in pain and fell to the ground, where it began melting away to nothing.

Logan looked up from it with disgust to see Cherise backhanding her monster out of the air as well. It hit a rock nearby and simply splattered across it before melting away similarly. Logan was starting to feel a little sick, both from the heat of the desert, the sight of splattering monsters, and the fear that continued to eat and twist in his stomach. His knees felt weak, and his arms numb, and it had arguably been only a minute or two. While training had been rough, and while Logan had battled against many pests and beasts surrounding Ul’dah, this was the first time he’d faced true life or death combat. As that realization settled on him, he suddenly felt like he might really throw up.

“You okay?” Cherise asked, placing her hand on his back just a little more forceful than necessary.

Logan shook his head. “I-I don’t know, we could… this is…” He swallowed.

Cherise frowned at him. “Look, I know this isn’t exactly your thing, I know you want to just go home, but if we don’t do this, people will get hurt,” he followed her gaze to the man, still fighting the original creature, and to Lilira, still hiding behind the rocks. “If you don’t want to hurt them then don’t, just give me an opening, keep _me_ safe and I’ll do the rest!”

Logan nodded. “Yeah, okay, that works, I-I can do that.”

“Good, because here comes more!”

Sure enough another pair of the voidsent creatures swooped down. Logan took a deep settling breath, and let his sister’s words sink into place of their life or death situation. He forced himself to remember the training he’d been given, and how to use that in conjunction with others. When he let the breath out, he felt steady, ready.

Cherise was already moving, engaging the voidsent. Logan charged after her, then past her, taking a swing at one of the voidsent, then spinning and throwing out his shield arm to try and bash the other. Both attacks missed, but they got the attention of the voidsent. Cherise immediately pounded on their exposed flanks, and one of the monsters wobbled off a little, dazed. Logan took another swing at the remaining engaged monster, but his blade was batted aside. Cherise came in again, and so Logan spun off the momentum of his deflected blade, stepped off to the side, and swung again. This kept his sister in the voidsent’s blind spot, so he never saw the flurry of blows coming. When it felt them, it spun to rake at the offender, but Logan stabbed it in the back, a sharp, unnatural cry of pain coming from its mouth, before it dropped to the ground and began to dissolve. The remaining beast saw its fallen comrade and shrieked, a piercing cry that made both twins wince. It charged Logan, but it never even made it close. Cherise leapt into the air and, with a spin, kicked it square in the head. A loud crack followed the impact, and the monster was half gone by the time it hit the ground.

No further reinforcements seemed incoming, so, after a brief glance and reassurance towards each other, Logan and Cherise turned back to the larger beast. The white-haired man seemed relieved that the beast was now once more distracted, and the three of them began an all out attack. The man lead the charge, moving in and slashing away, distracting it so Cherise could strike heavy blows, and by the time it turned to face her, Logan was in her place, sword and shield deflecting its counter attacks. Finally the man found an opening, and, moving faster than even Cherise, darted in and sunk his sword deep into the chest of the monster.

The voidsent gurgled, fell to the ground, and just like the others, slowly melted away.

“Good show!” The man exclaimed, sheathing his blade. “I must say, I wasn’t quite expecting all that much from either of you, but I am impressed. Not many can stare down voidsent like that and simply walk away. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a noble to check in on...”

He turned from the twins and walked back towards the Sultantree, and Lilira. Cherise looked after him and shrugged at Logan before following. Logan took a look back at the still dissipating stain of the voidsent, but just before turning to follow the others, a sparkle caught his eye. On the ground between him and the voidsent was a pure blue crystal. He hadn’t noticed it before, and wondered where it had come from. From the voidsent itself maybe? What little he knew of magic told him it may have been a focus for summoning the beast, an energy source or something. He walked over to it and bent to pick it up, intending to show it to Cherise and the stranger, maybe they could tell more about what it was. As soon as his fingers brushed the crystal however, his vision went white.

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in nothingness, similar to the visions he’d had back home. But this time a bright magical circle appeared around him, glyphs and designs all floating under his feet for a few yalms in every direction, perfectly symmetrical. In the middle portion of the ring, six circles stood completely empty. Floating between his hands in front of him was the crystal. It began to glow, as did one of the circles, then suddenly both the circle and the crystal flashed. Logan’s sight went white again, and once more the words from his visions echoed in his mind.

“Hear… Feel… Think…”

Blackness surrounded him, not even the light aetherical currents to help him orient himself in this world. He looked around but saw nothing. Then a sudden roar of noise above him. He looked up and saw roiling storm clouds, grey, but glowing every brighter orange and yellow as it reached the center of the storm. Streaks of flame spat forth, shooting past him, but they illuminated nothing but himself. Again, his vision went white.

Again, he reopened his eyes and found once more the aetherical currents in the void, joined by what looked like stars. But instead of standing on a surface of nothingness, Logan found himself floating freely, as though flying. Not only that, but he seemed to be glowing!

“Crystal bearer…”

It was the same voice as before, but this time seemed to be actually speaking to him, instead of just echoing the same words as before. Ahead of him was a very large crystal, as large as he but much more jagged and random than the smooth clean cut crystal he’d found on the ground. It began to float towards him, and, as soon as Logan thought about moving towards it in return, found he was already floating to meet it.

“I am Hydaelyn. All made one.”

The voice this time did not echo through Logan’s mind, but from the crystal itself. He said nothing, unsure of how to handle the situation, though he found it curious the crystal named itself after the very world he lived on.

“A Light there once was that shone throughout this realm… yet it hath since grown dim. And as it hath faltered, so hath Darkness risen up in its stead, presaging an end to life. For the sake of all, I beseech thee: deliver us from this fate! The power to banish the Darkness dwelleth in the Crystals of Light. Journey forth and lay claim to them.”

At this point more crystals had begun to appear, similar in cut though varying in shape and size. They began to float around Logan, and as he watched them spin, he looked back forward and suddenly a crystal larger than any building he had ever seen in Limsa Lominsa or Ul’dah had appeared before him. The smaller crystals were now spinning around it, and Logan found himself completely entranced by the sight.

“By thy deeds shall the Crystals reveal themselves to thee. Only believe, for the Light liveth in thy heart.”

A sense pulled Logan’s sight away from the crystal, and to his side, in the distance, he saw another figure, also glowing, making it hard to make them out clearly. A woman, maybe? A man, though what race he could not tell, suddenly flew right past him, also aglow. They were like shooting stars, visible for but the briefest of moments before disappearing in the distance. He felt an urge to join them, to help with whatever it was they were so intent on. And so he did, his glow burning brighter and he found himself shooting off to join the other stars as they began to surround the crystal. A sun appeared bright and warm above the crystal, and it drew Logan in.

“Go now, my child, and shine thy Light on all creation.”

Yes, that was what he wanted to do, what felt right. He continued towards the light, and one more time, his vision went white.

* * *

“Logan!” Cherise called out, though she sounded so distant. “Logan, wake up!” That sounded yet closer. “Don’t make me hit you!”

That sounded as though she were screaming in his ear. Logan’s eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath. “W-What? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong!? You just passed out on the ground! What in the hells do you think is wrong!?” Cherise scolded, fingers digging into his shoulders.

“Ow! Let go, help me up!” Logan complained, realizing that yes, indeed, he was flat on the ground.

Cherise scowled but stood up, extending a hand for her brother to help him up. He took it and got back to his feet, brushing the dust off his pants.

“Ah, coming around now?” The man from before commented, glancing over at the twins.

Logan blinked, feeling confused. How long had he been out? It can’t have been long, everyone was about right where he’d left them, the sun was still shining. Strange. Whatever that… vision had been had felt like hours.

“Would you mind telling me what that was!?” Lilira suddenly demanded of the man.

“If I only knew! A voidsent, but as for what kind, exactly, I know not,” he answered calmly.

Lilira seemed quite disturbed by this news and shook her head. “A voidsent? Here? But how?”

The man seemed equally disturbed, and Logan wondered what they were all thinking. “The question isn’t ‘how’, but ‘who’. We’re not dealing with bookless bandits.” The man glanced over at Logan. “I don’t suppose the answer came to you in a dream?”

It sounded like a joke, but Logan was tempted to answer with what he saw. But maybe that was best saved for when there weren’t a pair of complete strangers nearby.

“You passed out on the spot just a moment ago, too much aether, no doubt,” he continued with a shrug, moving on from his attempted joke.

Logan hesitated for just a moment, but then produced the crystal he’d found. “What about this?” He asked.

The man put a hand to his chin. “Interesting… I hadn’t considered a crystal…” The man paused then suddenly exclaimed. “But of course! This changes everything!”

Logan, Cherise and Lilira were all silent and staring at the man until he snapped out of his reverie, and noticed them all. “Oh, just thinking aloud! At any rate, we haven’t a moment to spare. I must return and report this at once. I leave Lady Lilira in your capable hands.”  
Lilira scoffed. “How dare you pass me about like a swaddled babe! I shall return and tell them myself!”

And with that Lilira stormed off, leaving the other three behind.

“As you wish, Your Impetuousness!” The man called after her with a shrug, before turning back to the twins. “I suspect we shall meet again before long. Until then, do try and stay awake!”

With a wave, the man also took his leave of the twins, finally leaving them alone. Logan looked over at Cherise, who was still scowling.

“Keep making that face, it might stay that way,” Logan said flatly.

He got a punch to the shoulder for his trouble. “Shut up, I was worried. What happened to you anyway?”

Logan took a moment to recall the vision, it was still very fresh in his mind, not dwindling like a dream, more like a memory. He told Cherise about what he’d seen, but she just sighed and shook her head.

“I don’t know, I think maybe you hit your head,” she said.

“But we just fought a _voidsent_!” Logan insisted. “Something’s going on, Cherise. Something big. The visions from before led us here, and this was the same sort of thing, isn’t this exactly what we came here to find? More clues to whatever those visions were? This is it!”

Cherise shrugged. “And did it tell you what to do next?”

“Well…” Logan tried to find an argument. “No, I guess not. But she did say that thing about deeds.”

“Great, so, our only hint is for you to keep… helping people?” Cherise asked. “You didn’t just make that up to have an excuse to keep helping that Miqo’te did you?”

Logan groaned loudly and started walking away. “Let’s just go find Papashan.”

He knew something was happening, something bad. But why was he the one being charged with stopping it? What was one man against such a darkness that the crystal - Hydaelyn - had described? What had he gotten himself into?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my series of FFXIV fics, each one is generally a separate story, though they should be ordered chronologically here. These are two of the main characters I'll be writing with, Logan, a Warrior of Light, and Cherise, his twin sister who sadly lacks the power. I hope this essentially long retelling of a single quest is enjoyable!


End file.
